In-flight Entertainment - Above Your Head

My recent trip on Transat to Paris was a blast!  Aside from knowing that it is a leisure and somewhat low cost carrier, I did not expect much but a casual flight out.  Service was top notch in terms of individual behaviours and friendliness.  True enough, certain things were charged on-board, but complimentary items were sufficient to make an enjoyable experience.  For a medium-haul Trans-Atlantic flight, two complimentary meal services were offered, which included wine and other beverages.  The red eye sector offered a hot meal plus a morning refreshment, while the afternoon return flight offered two hot meal services.  What impressed me the most, by surprise and with full contradiction, was the overhead entertainment screens on the A310s. 

Our return flight, CGD-YQB, was serviced by an A310.  Not to mention my excitement for my first flight on the second model ever produced by Airbus, the retro in-flight experience reminded me back in the days when traveling in the early 90s.  When I first stepped on-board, I noticed the lack of individual seat entertainment systems (unlike on the way to Pairs on their A330s).  There was a big screen at the forward cabin and multiple smaller hang-down style screens throughout the rest of the cabin.  

The mixed feeling of, my lord I am stuck with this for the next 8 hours, versus, oh wow this was how I used to travel, was contrary.  However, when the first movie was played, it felt extremely different.  A unique feeling draws back the good memories of the past when I was a little boy who was always excited to be in the cabin, and enjoyed every in-flight moment.  I plugged my headsets into the "back-in-the-days" style controllers on the side of the arm rest, where only channels and volume buttons exist.  Channels, by the way, is not meant for changing the channel on the shared screens, obviously.  It was for changing the dubbed languages of the movie, plus to the multiple radio channels, which are all controlled by the crews

Transat revamped their cabins with modern seating and mood lighting, which makes the cabin fairly modern and comfortable (the mood lighting that is).  It was a pleasant blend of retro entertainment and modern cabin.  That's right, those living in more developed countries and born post-millennium, this was traveling back in the 80s and 90s, where we looked up at the screens of entertainment.  This was how I traveled with my parents as a frequent flyer between HKG-SIN back in Primary school.